The Bottom Line: Ronda Rousey’s Golden Silence

Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media.* * * There are likely to be a lot of fingers crossed in Las Vegas and Los Angeles during the usually sleepy period between Christmas and New Year’s. While many will be off of work and school, dining on turkey leftovers, the Ultimate Fighting Championship on Friday faces an extremely important date. The return of Ronda Rousey is one of the most bankable pay-per-view attractions the company can offer up and the biggest event on the horizon by far.Usually, a fight as big as Rousey’s return against Amanda Nunes for the UFC women’s bantamweight crown wouldn’t present many question marks, but this one has plenty. The show will be on a Friday rather than the usual Saturday, a date change that disappointed on pay-per-view the last time it occurred for Brock Lesnar-Alistair Overeem in 2011. Viewers tend to be creatures of habit, and Saturday is well-established as the day for UFC pay-per-views. We have a limited sample size for what happens when the UFC runs on Friday, but the early indications weren’t good.UFC 207 stands out as a particularly important event for reasons that go well beyond the day of the week. Rousey’s career also hangs in the balance. If she turns in a great performance, it could mean that she still takes a number of big fights in the years to come. On the other hand, a poor performance might inspire her to move on to other things in her life for good. Obviously, the UFC is hoping for more Rousey fights, not less. Moreover, with the new ownership group needing to make significant bank to pay off its interest payments and few big fights on the horizon in early 2017, this card could potentially bring in more revenue than the next three to five pay-per-views combined. If it hits big, even that might be a conservative estimate. If UFC 207 misses relative to …

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